Joint for artificial legs.



D. W..PRIGE.

JOINT POR ARTIFICIAL LEGS. APPLICATION FILED JULY2s,19o9.

Patented May 31, 1910.

law

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

DAVID W. PRICE, OF OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY.

JOINT FOR ARTIFICIAL LEG-S.

To all 'whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, DAVID W. PRICE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Owensboro, in the county of Daviess and State of Kentucky,have invented a new and useful Joint for Artificial Legs, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to artificial legs, and has for its object theprovision of means whereby free movements of the leg will be permitted,while at the same time, a irm support will be provided in all thepositions assumed.

A further object of the invention is to provide an artificial leg whichwill have a iiexible but firm support for the limb of the user whichwill avoid the injurious clamping action of the ordinary stiff socket orinclosing case.

Vith these objects in view, the invention consists in certain novelfeatures of the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whichwill be hereinafter lirst fully described and then particularly pointedout in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partlyin vertical section, of an artificial leg embodying my presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the lower portion of thesame, and Fig. 3 is an edge view of the joint between the upper andlower members.

In carrying out my present invention, I employ a casing consisting of alower meinber 1, and an upper member 2, each of which is constructed ofstout leather cut to the proper size and folded around to form sleevesadapted to inclose the stump of the amputated limb, the meeting edges ofsaid sleeves being connected by lacings 3 whereby the said sleeves orcasings may be secured in position on the stump. By using a exiblecasing or iiiclosiiig sleeve formed of leather or similar material, Iavoid the irritating stiffness which was a prominent feature of articiallegs heretofore made.

The lower end of the lower member 1 is secured to a wooden block orskeleton I and is therebyprevented from collapsing, and in order tofurther reinforce the sleeve, I employ metallic straps or braces 5 whichare riveted to the inner sides of the sleeve at the lower portion of thesame, while just above the skeleton or block L1 and within the sleeve orcasing and connected with the upper ends of the straps 5 I provide aninter- Specication of Letters Patent.

` Application led July 23, 1909.

Patented May 31, 1910.

Serial No. 509,150.

nal annular brace 6 which is riveted to the casing, as will be readilyunderstood. Firmly secured to the outer sides of the casing at the upperend of the same and extending from the said brace 6 to the upperextremity of the casing is a metallic strap 7, having a jointedconnection with a similar strap 8 secured to the outer sides of theupper member 2 of the casing. The connection between these straps 7 and8 consists of a pair of plates 9 pivotally secured to the upper end ofthe stra 7 a link 10 pivoted between the upper en s of the plates 9 andhaving its own upper end pivoted between the lower ends of plates 11which are similar to the plates 9 and are pivotally secured to the lowerend of the strap 8. This construction will provide a flexible linkconnection between the two straps and permit a free play of the members1 and 2 relative to each other so as to accommodate all the naturalmovements of the limb in order to relieve the strain on the severalpivots and provide a firm support for the limb when the user of thedevice is walking or standing.

The link 10 is provided with shoulders 12 at its upper and its lowerends which shoulders are adapted to engage against similar shoulders onthe ends of the straps 7 and 8 and thereby prevent undue forwardmovement which would cause the wearer to fall or to severely strain orinjure the stump of the amputated limb, and similar shoulders 13 areprovided on the meeting ends of the plates 9 and 11 for the samepurpose. In order to give a support to the parts when the leg is bent,as in the acts of walking, sitting or kneeling, the ends of the link orstraps and the connecting plates are formed on curves which describeeccentric arcs whereby, when the upper member is moved rearwardrelatively to the lower member, the rear end of the edge of one memberof the joint will be brought against the adjacent edge of the meetingmember of the joint and thereby support the leg, as will be most readilyunderstood on reference to the dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The block or skeleton 4 is provided in its lower end with a centraltransverse concave seat 14 which may be lined with metal in order toreduce the wear, and this seat engages a convex projection or support 15rising from the upper side of the foot member 16 of the device. Themeeting convex and concave faces of the seat 1/1 and the pro-jection 15are spheroidal so that the ankle mem ber or skeleton l may move in alldirections over the foot member so as to accommodate the ordinarymotions of straight walking on a level surface and also permit the userof the device to walk upon a hillside or to ascend or descend stairs. Acushion 17 is interposed between the ankle member or skeleton I and thefoot member or skeleton 16 so as to reduce the shock upon the limb inthe act of walking and to promote comfort of the user of the device.

In order to firmly hold the ankle and foot members together I employeye-bolts 18 which pass vertically through the ankle member and areengaged at their lower ends with loops or straps 19 of leather orsimilar material which are secured firmly in the foot member and passthrough the same so as to engage the eyes of the eye-bolts. Around theupper ends of the said eye-bolts I coil springs Q0 between the upper endof the ankle member 4 and retaining nuts 21 which are mounted on theupper extremities of the bolts and are adapted to be turned toward theankle or skeleton 4f so as to adjust the tension of the springs 20, aswill be readily understood. The foot member is covered with felt, asindicated at 22, and the usual spring 23 is provided for the toe portionto impart the desired elasticity thereto and give the proper strengthfor fast walking or the taking of long steps. The construction of theankle joint permits either long or short steps to be taken without eXtraeffort on the part of the user and without strain on the stump and kneejoint. The movement of my artificial limb so closely resembles themovement of the natural joint that limping is almost imperceptible.

It is believed that the use and advantages of my device may be readilyunderstood from the foregoing description when read in connection withthe accompanying drawings, and further detailed mention of the same isbelieved to be unnecessary.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. The combination of upper and lower reinforcing straps, a connectingplate pivoted to the upper end of the lower reinforcing strap, aconnecting plate pivoted to the lower end of the upper reinforcingstrap, and a vlink having its opposite ends pivoted to the ends of theconnecting plates, the con- VeX end of one member playing in aneccentric concave end of the meeting member.

2. The combination of upper and lower.

reinforcing straps having convex end edges terminating in transverselydisposed shoulders at the front edges of the straps, connecting platespivoted to the said straps and having their meeting ends formed withtransverse shoulders at their front edges, the said ends in rearof saidshoulders presenting engaging convex and concave faces arrangedeccentrically to each other, and a link pivoted to and connecting thesaid connecting plates and having its ends formed with concave facesdisposed eccentrically to the convex ends of the reinforcing straps andwith shoulders at its front edge adapted to engage the shoulders of theends of the reinforcing straps.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aliixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID WV. PRICE.

Titnesses PEARLE DINKELSPEEL, MAMIE KELLY.

